Lock for automobiles



"March 17, 1925.

J. L. MYERS ET AL LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Oct. 19. 1921 VENTORJ N j /I966 L. fig: and

h a/fer /x. BY

m y ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 17, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES L. MYERS AND J'. SII IX, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO;

LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Application filed October 19,1921; Serial No. 508,790.

To all whom it may cmwem:

Be it known that we, JAMES L. MYERS and WALTER J. SIX, citizens of the United States, and residents of Cleveland, county of Cuyahoga, State of Ohio, have jointly invented a new and useful Improvement in Locks for Automobiles, of which the following is a specification, the principle of the invention being herein explained and the.

best mode in which we have contemplated applying that principle, so as to distinguish it from other inventions.

The present invention, relating as indicated, to looks for internal combustion engines,

is particularly. directed to an improved mechanism adapted to be attached to an internal combustion engine in use either in motor driven vehicles, or elsewhere, for the purpose of enclosing the spark plugs of the engine and short circuiting the same when the engine is not in use. ,The present device is intended to completely enclose the spark plugs of the motor and to prevent access thereto as well as short circuit the plugs. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The annexed drawing and the following description set forth in detailcertain mechanism embodying the invention, such disclosed means constituting, however, but one of various mechanical forms inwhich the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawing Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an engine to which our improved device has been applied; Fig. 2 18 a longitudinally horizontal section through the enclosed casmg thereof; Fig. 3 is a vertical section on l1ne 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a transverse vert1cal section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is a plan View of a modified type of lockin bar.

in Fig. 1, I have shown a motor 1 which is provided with two cylinder blocks 2 and 2' in (ach of which'there are two cylinders, each of which is provided with a spark plug 3. It will be understood of cours'ethat the present invention is in no way limited to a four-cylinder engine and may be equally well adapted for use on engines with various numbers of cylinders.

Our improved device consists of a sheet metal box-like casing 4:, open at its top,

which is adapted, to be set over the spark inder wall, and the boss 6 is designed to fit into thisrecess so that the base 8 of the easing, may rest flatly against the wall of the motor. The casing is then fastened to the cylinder walls by means of the cylinder head bolts 9 and spark plugs which pass through suitable openings in the casing. In the event that the motor is provided with an integral head, bolts may be secured to the motor for passing through the apertures in the casing and permitting the latter to be bolted securely to theengine.

The casing 4 is provided with an extending portion 10 at one end in which there is mounted a lock mechanism 11 which may be of any suitable construction and which is designed to permit the operation in the casing of a rod or bar 12. This bar is normally held in the retracted position which is shown in Fig. 2, by means of a tension spring 13, which is fastened to the bar and to one of the walls of the casing.

The casing is provided with a removable downward from its edges, this flange fitting snugly over and against thevupper edges of the side-walls of the casing. In one end the cover is providedwith two lugs 15 on the flange, which are adapted to fit snugly into recesses 16 formed in the end wall of the casing 4. The engagement of these lugs in the openings, prevents the removal of the cover by lifting this end of it, and the other end is secured by means-of the bar 12 in the following manner. On the inside of this other end of the cover is a depending lug 17 adapted to fit between upwardly projecting lugs 18 and 19 on the inside of the casing. The lugs 17, 18 and 19 are provided with openings which register when the cover is in position on the casing, and permit the bar 12, to be moved longitudinally into engagement with the openings in the lugs 17 and 19. The bar is at all times held in the opening in the lug 18 which acts as a guide for means short of destruction of the entire casthe plugs so longas the bar is in this position. In this way the engine is effectually locked against operation.

In Fig. 5 there is shown a bar -10 which is provided with springs 42 mounted thereon, but insulated from the 'bar. These springs correspond with the springs 25 which are shown in Fig. 2, but in this case the wires/$4, leadingto the spark plugs which enter the box through openings 46, are connected to, the springs and the. circuit is then closed through these'wires and the spring to the sparkplug. If-the bar is moved to 'the left andthe springs thereby moved out of contact with the spark plugs the circuit is broken instead of being merely grounded, as is the case with the 'cons'trud tion already described.

Any suitable lock mechanism may be mounted in the hollow barrel-lilne end 10 of the casing, which is adapted to be mounted either in the'da'sh or instrument board of the automobile, or allowed to remain under the hood, depending upon whichever arrangement may be most convenient because ofthe-position ofthe cylinders and the relation of the instrument board thereto. \Ve have not shown the lock mechanism, as any suitablelock may be used so long as it is provided with a bolt adapted to engage against aseries of shoulders 30, 31 and 32 formed near the end of the bar 12. When thebar 12 is pushed into its innermost position, thus locking the. cover to the casing, and short circuiting the spark plugs, the bolt 33 of the lock engages against the shoulder32. When it is desired to operate thev vehicle the lock is released and the spring 13 retracts the bar until the bolt 33 of the lock engages the shoulder 31'. In this position the springs 25 are out of contact with the spark'plugs and the engine may be operated, but the cover is still'eflectively ,locked on the casing. If the cover is to be removed the lock; is again operated to with- 'draw the bolt 33 out of the path of the bar 12 proper, but into such a position that the shoulder 30 engages against the bolt and prevents the bar from being'entirely drawn out from the uide 18. The cover may then be removed by tilting it in a counter-clock- :wisedirection about the lugs v15 until the flange on the cover is clear of the upper edge of the casing when it may be removed bodily and access may be had to the interior of the casing for the purpose of cleaning or replacing the spark plugs or wires.

Any convenient type of lock mechanism may be employed, either a key-operating lock or a combination lock, and it is unnecessary to describe the lock mechanism in detail. It may of course be so constructed that when a user enters a car and unlocks the lock the bar or plunger 12 may then be operated to close the circuit through the spark plugs whether the key, in case a key lock is used, remains in the lock or not, and also the lock may be automatic so that the movement of the plunger into its operative position holds it there until the lock is again operated by theuser.

The present invention when installed on a car is inconspicuous as everything except the lockand end of the bar are concealed under the hood, and it constitutes an effective lock for the ignition system of the automobile. The casing may be broken into to permit the removal of the springs 25 from theirposition against the spark plugs, but any method which may be adapted to break open the boxwill also either injure or destroy the spark plugs, and hence render the motor temporarily inoperableJ-The casing may be made of hardened pressed steel so that it will resist any ordinary methods that may be used to break into it, or it may be made of thick cast material whichwill be practically equally diificult to break into. Other modes of'applying. the principle of our invention may be employedinstead of the one explained,change being made as re gards the mechanism herein disclosed, proing claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed. 7

-\Ve therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as our inventlon 1. The combination withan internal combustion engine having a plurality of aligned cylinders each provided .with a spark plug therein, an open casing mounted on said cylinders about said spark plugs, a cover for said casing, and a bar slidably mounted in said casing, said bar being slidable into a position electrically disconnecting said spark plugs, and said bar being also adapted to lock said cover on said casing by sa d slid able disconnecting movement.

2. The combination with an internal combustion engine having a plurality of aligned cylinders each provided with a spark plug therein, an open casing mounted on said cylinders about said spark plugs, a .cover for said casing, a bar slidably mounted in said casing, and extendin exteriorly therefrom, said bar being slida%le into a position electrically disconnecting said spark plugs,

able exteriorly of said casing, said means co-0perating with stepped shoulders on said bar to lock said bar in each of several positions. y

3. The combination with an internal combustion engine having a plurality of aligned cylinders each therein, an open casing mounted on said cylinders about said spark plugs, a cover for said casin a bar slidably mounted in said casing an extending said bar being slidable into a position electrically disconnecting said spark plugs and to retain said bar provlded with a spark plug,

exteriorly therefrom,

said bar being also adapted to lock said cover on said casing by said disconnecting 15 movement, resilient means normally tending out of contact with said spark plugs, and lock means operable ex teriorly of said casing, said means c0-op erating with means on said bar to lock said 20 bar in each of several positions.

Signed by us, this 9th day of September, 1921.

JAMES L. MYERS. WALTER J. SIX. 

